


if the earth ends in fire and the seas are frozen in time

by allens



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Immortality, M/M, angsty sometimes?, enjoy this, jinho and hongseok have KIDS, very old letters, whoops, wooseok is concerned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 22:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20053711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allens/pseuds/allens
Summary: "You keep getting yourself into some bullshit you'll regret for the rest of your life. And that's big because you're fucking immortal!"1873. Yuto encounters an old man who offers him three wishes and thoughtlessly asks for immortality for him and his boyfriend, Yanan.2019. Yuto is roughly 167 years old and might just be realising the permanent consequences of his words





	if the earth ends in fire and the seas are frozen in time

_September 22,1873_

_It's taken me a while to get used to the new calendar, but I have no choice but to use it. January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. We're already in the 9th month of what has been the strangest year for me. Like I have had nothing to do for a while; it feels like I'm just waiting for something to happen out of the blue. I met a man today. No, not like that. I wouldn't look at any man except Yanan that way. He was a... strange old man._

_Yanan was busy today. His father needed help with something and Yanan, the good, filial son he is, is working with him. With Yanan busy, I didn't have anything to do today so I took a long walk all the way to the market, which was oddly not as busy as it normally is. Their handcrafted vases stood there glistening when the sun's rays struck them. A little distance away, carrying a wooden pail of water, I saw that man, the old man, hunched over. I picked it up for him and offered to take it to wherever he needed to go- I can't just ignore my elders when they need assistance. He said he had to bring it to his house, quite some way from the market. Anything as long as I can make my life on Earth worthwhile, right? I went with him, carrying the pail carefully so as not to spill any water out. When I reached his house, he asked me to stay for tea because the long walk must have tired me out, and I'd have to make the walk back to go home. I agreed and he let me in. I think he likes to collect things, because the room I was in was filled with odd trinkets. Some big statues, some small and shiny bits and pieces. My own home was neat and clean; not many things lying around. Even Yanan's was the same, open space aplenty. The old man's home felt odd, but at the same time weirdly comforting. I wonder if he felt lonely in empty spaces because it didn't seem like anyone else lived with him._

_He came back with the teapot and beamed at me as he sat down cross-legged opposite to me. "Kind-hearted boys like you are hard to find these days," he said, taking a sip of the tea. "It seems like everyone's hearts seem to harden more and more as time passes by, don't you think?". I didn't say a word but he seemed to acknowledge the air of silent agreement, his smile not fading._

_"Son, I'll give you three wishes for your goodness. What do you want your first wish to be?"_

_He was probably joking around with me, like people do with kids, so I decided to play along and answer, "Please give me immortality."_

_The man chuckled at my response, slowly nodding his head. He was definitely joking around, immortality doesn't exist. We all die eventually and go to the gloomy underground realm everyone says we do. Unless you're a legendary human who gets enshrined. But I'm just an ordinary man. _

_"What is your next wish?"_

_I can't tell whether the man is being serious or playing around. But if he is, maybe if Yanan and I were immortal together? It's obviously not real, but thinking about it makes me happy. Maybe we might live to a day where they let us love and not in secret._

_"I have a friend named Yanan, would it be possible to make him immortal too? I would feel lonely if I were the only one immortal."_

_"Alright, alright, son, Yanan will be immortal too. And your third wish?"_

_"I can't think of one right now."_

_"Very well," the man responded and he stood up, still smiling. I wonder if his cheeks hurt from all that smiling or if he smiled so much that the corners of his mouth were permanently curved upwards. It made me feel warm and comfortable- people should really smile more often if a stranger's mere smile makes me feel like smiling too. An infectious happiness spread around with his smile, I felt, even though there was no one else around me to smile. Maybe if I smile more, people will smile with me. The man knelt next to a woven box and rummaged through it, before his hands emerged. He sat back down and opened his fist to reveal a small, twinkling pendant._

_"Keep this with you, son. When you can think of your third wish, use it."_

_It's very pretty and it's lying in my lap while I write this. The wishes are obviously not real but I appreciate the little gift- one amongst the many trinkets in that room I wondered about. I think I understand why he has so many things, it feels nice to call small, pretty things your own._

_I left the man's house and began to walk back home. Except I stopped by Yanan's house first to see if he was free. To my joy, he was and invited me in. His father joked that I of all people never needed an invitation because it's like my second home. After all, they are my neighbours, and things get boring at home because Akari is too busy with our mom. I began spending my time at their house, mostly with Yanan. And I began feeling strange emotions. It's the emotions my parents always told me I'd feel for a woman eventually, but I began feeling them for him. And it felt odd. I felt wrong. But, one day, when I brought it up with Yanan, he felt the same emotions. It's been 2 years since that conversation, but I don't think our families would approve. That's okay, though, for now._

_I excitedly ushered Yanan into his room, and slid the panel shut behind me._

_"Love, I met a strange man today," I said, and began to explain everything._

_But you know what makes my day the strangest? The feeling I talked about, the one where I'm just waiting for something to happen. I don't feel it anymore. Was it this that I was anticipating for so long? A part of me sort of hopes the wishes are real_

_Adachi Yuto_


End file.
